Top 20 on the Islanders: #8 Mark Streit

Defenseman Mark Streit firing a slap shot (Photo by Graig Abel/NHLI via Getty Images)

          Next up on the top twenty list is a defenseman who has become quite the team leader.  All his hard work along with his great presence in the locker room, the Isles gave him the honor of being the teams captain this year.  The man I am talking about is defenseman, Mark Streit.
          Streit was drafted in the ninth round (262nd overall), by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.  He played in Montreal for his first three years of his NHL career.  He then signed on with the Islanders as a free agent on July 1st, 2008.  
          Streit started his hockey career in 1995, as an eighteen year old, in the Swiss-A league.  He played his first year for a team called Fribourg-Gotteron.  He played thirty three games with them, scoring two goals and getting two assists, for four points.  
          He then played the next three years for a team called Davos, from 1996-1999.  In his time there, Streit played in one-hundred twenty-eight games, getting thirteen goals and thirty-seven assists for fifty points.  
          Streit then made the move to the AHL (American Hockey League), for the 1999-2000 season, to play for a team called the Springfield Falcons.  He only played there one season.  He played in forty-eight games, getting three goals and twelve assists for fifteen points.   
          The next season, Streit became a member of the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks of the ECHL (East Coast Hockey League).  He only played in fourteen games for them getting no goals and five assists, for five points.  That same year he also played one game for the Utah Grizzlies of the International Hockey League.  He tallied one assist in his lone game there.  
          The ever-traveling Streit finally settled down back in the Swiss-A league, for a team called Zurich.  He played from 2000-2005 there, playing in two-hundred forty-five games.  He compiled  fifty-three goals and one-hundred eighteen assists, for one-hundred seventy-one points.  
          He was then drafted and playing in the NHL for the Montreal Canadiens.  He played three seasons there totaling two-hundred and sixteen games.  He got twenty-six goals and eighty-seven assists, for one-hundred thirteen points.
          Streit finally landed on Long Island in 2008, as a thirty-one year old, signing a five-year 20.5 million dollar contract.  Streit's currently in the middle of his third year with the Islanders, with two more campaigns to go.  
          In his career as an Islander so far Striet's played in two-hundred thirty games, compiling thirty-three goals and one-hundred fifteen assists, for one-hundred forty-eight points.  
          Streit's career has obviously been a well traveled one.  But it looks like he's found a nice home on the Islanders.  The Islanders know that Streit is a great presence in the locker room for two reasons.  One reason is that he is a top defenseman and will get his fair share of points for the club.  But the other reason, and possibly the more important reason, is he is a great defenseman to have to teach, and help, your young players.  
          With his experience and ability, Streit has become quite the two-headed monster.  If he continues to play at the level he's capable of, and is able to help these youngsters grow, Streit could quite possibly be the most important player on the Island today.